Iran Geography

General Geography of
Iran

To have a good
understanding of the Iran's geography, you need to look at it from
different perspectives. Iran's geography is a composition of
different components. Some of the items are introduced here.

A look at the
Iran's
location, area, cities and capital, terrain, climate, population,
ethnic composition, religious groups and linguistic varieties can be
helpful in depicting the whole country in a brief way.

Geography of
Iran: Location

Iran is
situated in Southwest Asia, the Middle East. It is bordered on the
Eastern side of Iraq and Turkey, Western side of Afghanistan and
Pakistan and Southern side of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkmenistan.

The largest lake of the world, Caspian Sea is at
the North of Iran and The Persian Gulf as well as Oman Sea are at
the South of Iran.

Geography of
Iran: Area

Iran extends over
an area of 1,648,000 sq kilometers, making it the second largest
country in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia. The Caspian coastline
on the North of Iran is extended as long as 650 kilometers. The
Southern coastline of Iran, including The Persian Gulf and Oman Sea,
is approximately 1770 kilometers.

Geography of Iran: Cities &
Capital

The growth of the population during the recent
decades has resulted in growing populations in some cities of Iran. Tehran, the
capital of Iran, is inhabited by approximately 14 million people. It
also hosts an additional 4 million who commute to the city for work
everyday.

However, there are some other cities of Iran that are
growing into industrial centers of Iran.
They consist of Arak, Ahvaz, Esfehan, Kerman, Shiraz, Tabriz, and
Mashad.

Geography of
Iran: Terrain

There are different geographical areas in Iran with the
quality of terrain particular to those areas. Around 1/3 of Iran’s
entire territory is arable and only %10.4 is under cultivation.
Almost %6 of the total land is used for pasture. Forested areas,
which are mainly on the Northern coastal areas of Iran, account for
%4.5 of the total territory.

As a Whole, looking at the geography of the world, you will soon find
out that Iran
is one of the most mountainous countries of the world.

In addition to other local mountain ranges, there
are two major mountain ranges in Iran:

The Alborz Mountain Range. It is extended from
the Northwest to Northeast of Iran with the highest peak of Iran
(Damavand, 5671 meters above sea level) near Tehran.

The Zagros Mountain Range. It is extended from
the Northwest to the Southwest and Southeast of Iran with
several peaks higher than 4000 meters above sea level.

The deserts of Iran are mainly
situated on the Eastern half of Iran.
The two major deserts in Iran are called:

Dasht-e-Kavir, which is located in central Iran toward
East.

Kavir-e-Lut, which is at Southeast of Iran.

Geography of
Iran: Climate

There are
different climatic districts in Iran. Some of them are so varied
that seem to compose a list of all climates you may find at
different parts of the world.

The Caspian
coastal plain remains humid all year due to the low altitude of
nearly close to the sea level.

The high
altitude of inhabited areas on the west of Iran creates a cold
winter time that is usually below the freezing point.

The central
and Eastern Iran go through seasonally climatic variations. In
general, these areas are arid and semi-arid during most parts of the
year.

The Southern
coastal plains of Iran have mild winters, but very hot and extremely
humid summer days. The temperature could exceed 48° C during July in
the interior part of Southern Iran.

Geography of Iran: Population

The population of Iran has
increased dramatically with the growth rate exceeding 3.1 percent.
As a result, today the population of Iran is estimated to be two
times more than what it used to be three decades ago, more than 66
million people.

The majority of the population has moved into the
cities in search for larger job opportunities.

Geography of
Iran: Ethnic Composition

Iranians
consist of several ethnic groups who have been living peacefully
with each other since the beginning of the central government in
Iran, 550 BC, Achaemenians. As a result, they all share the same
Iranian identity despite subtle ethnic differences.

Such ethnic
composition includes Persians, Azeries, Kurds, Baluchis, Lurs,
Turkmans, and Arabs. There are also Jews, Armenians and Assyrians
among Iranians. Nomads also form another ethnic entity in Iran each
of whom belong to one of the above groups.

Geography of
Iran: Linguistic varieties

The official
language of the people living in Iran is Farsi (Parsi), modern
Persian. This is the language of education and administration that
everyone is obliged to learn. Of course, different provinces of Iran
use their mother tongues in their local TV channels.

The other
languages spoken in Iran are Kurdish, Lurish, Baluchis, Taleshi,
Gilaki and Mazandarani. The number of dialects is tens of thousands
spoken differently from village to village.

Most of the
languages spoken in Iran are from Indo-European origin except for
Turkic, Arabic, Hebrew, Assyrian and Armenian languages.

Geography of
Iran: Religious Groups

Iran has always
been a country of rich religious diversity. Several religions have
originated from ancient Iran like Mithraism and Zoroastrianism. Some
of Iranian nobles during Partisan's Era have disseminated Buddhism
in eastern part of the Parthian empire. There had even been some
Buddhist temples in some of the Iranian towns and cities.

Today, there are four religions recognized by the
government in Iran:
Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Since 16th
century, the Shia branch of Islam turned to be the official
denomination of Islam in the country.